Kazakhstan increases exports of meat and offal

A total of 95,700 tonnes of meat products were produced between January and May 2016, a 9.4% growth year on year, informs energyprom.kz.

The main producer regions were Almaty Region with 28,300 tonnes (29.8% of the total), East Kazakhstan Region with 14,900 tonnes (15.6%) and Aktobe Region with 7,800 tonnes (8.2%). In 2011-2015 the annual average growth in the production of meat and offal was 7.8%. The highest growth was registered in 2012 – 14%, while the growth figure stood at 4.3% in 2015. A total of 228,300 tonnes of meat was produced in 2015.

Exports of meat and offal increased from 700 tonnes in 2011 to 11,600 tonnes in 2015, a 1,557% increase. Meat exports increased from 1,600 tonnes in 2013 to 8,900 tonnes in 2014, the highest annual growth. This was linked to Russian sanctions on Western foodstuffs. As a result, the change in Russian demand for meat in 2014 gave a stimulus to Kazakh meat exports to Russia, which accounts for 99.5% of Kazakh meat exports.

Event. However, due to the latest outbreaks of diseases among the livestock in June 2016 Russia and China have temporarily suspended exports of Kazakh beef which may have a negative impact on meat exports in the short term. At the moment, Kazakh producers are looking for alternative export markets. In addition, Kazakh producers have called for a ban on the private slaughtering of animals in households.

In January 2016 the agriculture minister and governors of three regions – Aktobe, West Kazakhstan and Kostanay Regions – and the transnational company InalcaEurasia signed an agreement on interregional cooperation in animal husbandry with investment worth €100m. Aktobe Region Governor Berdybek Saparbayev said that accords had been achieved on the creation of fattening sites with a capacity of 44,000 head of livestock and on the modernisation of an existing meat facility in Aktobe Region. Its annual capacity exceeds 7,000 tonnes of meat, but farmers plan to produce more – up to 20,000 tonnes of meat a year.